the drays, and was on his return, when, stopping on the plains to let his horses feed, he fell fast asleep, during which time they strayed, and he was obliged to leave everything and walk until he overtook his horse near the creek.  He said the men had consumed all the water I had left with them, and were in great alarm lest they should die of thirst; I was exceedingly provoked at Morgan’s neglect, more particularly as the comfort of the other men was involved in the delay, although they deserved to suffer for the prodigal waste of their previous supply.  But it is impossible to trust to men in their sphere of life under such circumstances, as they are seldom gifted with that moral courage which ensures calmness in critical situations.  I made every allowance too for their being in so hot a place, and it only remained for me to relieve them as soon as I could.  I sent the ever ready Flood for the casks and provisions Morgan had left behind him, but it was necessarily late before he returned; I then directed him to get up two teams of the strongest bullocks, and with him and another of the men left Mr. Poole and Mr. Browne to go myself to the pine forest for two of the drays.  About seven miles from the creek we met Lewis, who was on our tracks.  He said he apprehended that Morgan had lost himself, and that he came on to ensure relief to the other men, who he said were suffering greatly from the want of water.  At 9 p.m. we rounded up the cattle until the moon should rise, and made fires to prevent their escape.  At 11 she rose, but it was behind clouds, so that it was 12 before we could move on.  About two miles from the drays we saw Kirby wandering away from the track and called to him.  This man would infallibly have been lost if we had not thus accidentally seen him.  On reaching the party I found that Lewis had somewhat exaggerated the state of affairs, still the men were bad enough, although they had not then been 36 hours without water.

Notwithstanding that the moon had risen behind clouds, the first sun of the new year (1845) rose upon us in all his brightness, and the temperature increased as he advanced to the meridian.  As Jones was with the hindmost drays, I sent Sullivan on my horse with some water for him, and ordered Flood to precede me with two of the drays along a flat I had noticed as I rode along, by which they would avoid a good many of the ridges.  Sullivan returned with Jones about half-past ten, who, he told me, so far from wanting water had given all I had sent him to the dogs.  As there were twelve bullocks to each dray I was obliged to give the drivers assistance, and consequently had to leave Jones by himself in the forest.  I allowed him however to keep two of the dogs, and gave him four gallons of water, promising to send for him in two days.  I then mounted my horse to overtake the teams, which by the time I came up with them had got on better than I expected.  But the heat was then so intense that I feared the bullocks would drop.